By Al Hain-Cole

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23 Jan 2013 16:04:00

Bafana Bafana opened the competition with a disappointing 0-0 draw against Cape Verde, and Al Hain-Cole expects their inability to find the back of the net to cost them once again

After serving up disappointing 0-0 draws against Cape Verde and Morocco respectively to open the competition, South Africa and Angola will be desperate to get their Africa Cup of Nations campaign underway in earnest when they face off on Wednesday.

With Group A evenly balanced after the first round, a win for either side would put them in a fantastic position take command at the top of the table and leave one foot in the knockout stages.

The hosts will be particularly eager to impress in front of a passionate home crowd, and they are favourites at 6/5 (2.20) with Coral to pick up their first victory.

However, Angola are no pushovers, having lost just twice in their last 24 fixtures, so seem to offer good value at 2/1 (3.00) to spoil the party with all three points.

Another draw would do neither team any favours, but you can get odds of 2/1 (3.00) if you can see this one ending in a stalemate.

Although the onus will be on Bafana Bafana to push for the win in front of their own fans, Gustavo Ferrin’s side cannot be expected to make life easy for the hosts.

Despite not managing to hit the back of the net against a good Morocco side, their clean sheet in that match was the fifth in consecutive matches for the Palancas Negras.

This strong defensive record gives them an excellent chance of picking up a result against a side who have failed to score in four of their last five, and it is well worth backing Angola to upset the applecart at 11/8 (2.38) in the forgiving draw no bet market. Should the game end in a draw, you'd get your stake back.

The West African team are certainly in strong form, having won all four friendly games in the run-up to this competition without conceding a single goal, including against tough opponents Cameroon and Zambia.

Ferrin’s men could be set to make themselves very unpopular with the locals, and a bet on them winning without conceding looks like great value at 4/1 (5.00).